Brendan Saloner, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who studies access to addiction treatment, said surveys that he and a colleague, Susan Sherman, conducted of drug users and people in treatment in 11 states during the pandemic found that many had used drugs more often during that time and used them alone more often, likely because of lockdowns and social distancing. Well over half the participants also said the drugs they used had been cut or mixed more than usual, another red flag.
“The data points corroborate something I believe, which is that people who were already using drugs started using in ways that were higher risk especially using alone and from a less reliable supply,” Dr. Saloner said.
As the pandemic accelerated, an epidemic seemed to recede from headlines. But it did not stop.
More than 40 states reported an increase in opioid-related.
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